[Note to TomDispatch readers: I'll be on the road for the next week with limited e-mail access. I may not be answering letters and requests. Be patient. For those of you living in the Santa Fe, New Mexico, area, this Wednesday night (Oct. 21) at 7 p.m. at the Lensic...
Is Adulation of the Military Really Patriotic?
A recent article in the New York Times reported that the military has become frustrated with President Barack Obama because he hasn't quickly decided to risk more of their lives in an Afghan war that is likely to be unwinnable. In a post-World War II world that has...
The Dark Side of the ‘Special Relationship’
A silent battle has been raging right under our noses, a fierce underground struggle pitting the U.S. against one of its closest allies. For all its newsworthiness, the media has barely noticed the story – except when it surfaces, briefly, like a giant fin jutting...
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 11 Iraqis Killed; 34 Iraqis Wounded
The Pentagon’s Recruitment Two-Step
Throttling Back on Afghanistan
It was encouraging to see White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel throwing elbow punches in the Sunday political gabfests, defending the Obama's decision to hold off on its decision on what to do about McChrystal's flying-pie proposal to "Go Big" in a...
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 10 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Rethinking World War III
In 2007, just as the Bush administration was hyping the alleged "threat" from Iran's ostensible nuclear ambitions – and facing renewed pressure from the Israel lobby to go after Tehran – the CIA issued a National Intelligence Estimate that punctured the War...
Who’s Next? Lessons From the Long War and a Blowback World
Is it too early – or already too late – to begin drawing lessons from "the Long War"? That phrase, coined in 2002 and, by 2005, being championed by CENTCOM Commander Gen. John Abizaid, was meant to be a catchier name for George W. Bush's "Global War on Terror." That...